


give it a chance

by breathofthewild



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:05:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7871416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breathofthewild/pseuds/breathofthewild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Did it hurt?"</p><p>Nico stopped in his tracks. His throat felt tight. He swallowed and said, "What?"</p><p>Will smiled like it didn't mean anything and said, "Y'know--when you fell from heaven."</p>
            </blockquote>





	give it a chance

 

It took Nico a while to notice what death felt like.

Well, not immediate death, which was pretty hard to miss. But impending death, the possibility of death, or a slow, inevitable death--that was more subtle. The type you might find on someone with a life-threatening disease, or someone about to go into battle.

Now, after years of knowing that he was a demigod and a son of Hades, it was easy. He did it almost subconsciously. Most of the time, he had to keep it to himself. It wouldn't do if he ran around telling every random person he ran into:  _Hey, you might die sometime soon, just so you know._

Nico di Angelo, despite some of the rumors, can _not_ tell the future. He might get _ideas_ about the future, if those ideas have to do with people dying, but death doesn't always turn out the way you think it might. Leo Valdez was proof of that. All the feeling means is a possibility; One branching path out of many, albeit a likely one.

Will Solace, in all his obnoxiousness, absolutely _radiated_ life, which made sense. He was a healer. He was a son of Apollo. Most of the times, it was just annoying. Sometimes it was stifling. Sometimes it felt like a breath of fresh air.

When Nico woke up that first day in the infirmary--in that bright, sterile room, the scent of antiseptic and ambrosia in the air--he could feel, down to his bones, the effects of his overextension. His entire body ached. He had a pounding headache. His left eyelid kept twitching. And yet somehow, he felt much more substantial than he had in those two hazy days after the battle with Gaea...more real, somehow.

He didn't realize what the feeling was until days later: for the first time since he could remember, he couldn't sense death.

Will was busy. He had dozens of patients to tend to. Despite this, he still managed to find time to flirt with Nico. Practically every time he woke up, even when it was the middle of the night, Will was there to ask how he was doing and joke around with him. Nico refused to admit to himself that it was endearing, and so settled on _annoying_. He started to wonder if Will ever slept.

By the third day, word of Nico's crush on Percy had spread through camp. He'd already guessed that was going to happen, and was surprised, actually, that it hadn't happened sooner. His suspicions were confirmed when Will came through the dividing curtain, sat down next to his bed, and coughed.

"So," he began. "You and Percy, uh...?"

"Yeah," said Nico. "I mean, no. But yeah, I did."

"So you're, y'know, into..."

"Yeah." Something felt tight in his chest. He wanted to get defensive, suddenly, wanted to curl in on himself and hide. Maybe he hadn't read the situation right. Maybe Will's friendliness was just that, friendliness, and now he was going to fuck it up forever because Will was straight and Nico wasn't and that wasn't okay--

But Will just whistled and wiped imaginary sweat off his brow. "Well, that's a relief. I'd kinda started to think I was making things up in my head." He grinned at Nico. "Gotta say, though, that's a pretty tough act to follow."

Nico blinked. All the tension flooded out of him at once. "Trust me, it's not that tough," he said, smiling. "Besides, I'm over him."

Will smiled back at him, and he looked so weirdly peaceful it was almost infectious.

It was weird because in actuality, he looked like hell. There were circles under his eyes from an obvious lack of sleep, his hair was unkempt, and he didn't seem to have changed clothes for a few days. But there was more to him than that--something more than skin-deep. His presence was like daylight, a miniature self-contained star. Nico got the impression that he could get sunburned if he hung out with Will too long.

He realized that Will made him feel alive.

It was weird. It was uncomfortable. It was new. Nico hadn't decided yet whether he liked it or not, but he decided he was willing to give it a chance.

\--

Will's cabinmates didn't seem to mind when he snuck out after curfew. Nico didn't mind, either.

It wasn't like they were _doing_ anything. They didn't even sleep together. Nico laid in his bed, reading a book or playing a game, while Will gathered up all the pillows and sheets he could and collected them on one bed. Normally, Nico hated having other people in his space, but Will's presence felt comfortable and easy to ignore. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to confront those particular feelings right now.

"Hey," said Will. "How are you doing?"

Nico glanced over. The dim green light of the room bathed Will's face in shadow, making him look uncharacteristically serious. "I'm not your patient anymore, you know."

"Just because you're not lying on a sickbed anymore doesn't mean I'm not responsible for you," he retorted. "And if I had it my way, you'd still be in there, anyway."

"You could get in trouble for being here," Nico pointed out.

"I'm your doctor, and you're sick. I've got a right."

That drew a smile out of him. "I don't remember signing any papers."

"Well, it's an emergency!" From the sound of his voice, Will was smiling, too.

"I don't think I _need_ a doctor. You're going to have to find some other excuse to sneak into my cabin."

He paused for a beat. "Well, I don't think that'll be too hard."

Nico felt his cheeks go red.

\--

"Did it hurt?"

Nico stopped in his tracks. His throat felt tight. He swallowed and said, "What?"

Will smiled like it didn't mean anything and said, "Y'know--when you fell from heaven."

He let out a breath. "I've seen heaven. It's not exactly a place you can fall from."

"Yeah, but 'when you crawled up from the pits of Tartarus' just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?"

Nico winced. 

"Oh..." After a second, Will winced too, and it was obvious he understood what he'd done wrong. "Too soon, huh?"

He exhaled, not quite a laugh. "Yeah, maybe a little."

They walked a few more paces together in silence. Nico stared down at his feet. He could tell Will was uncomfortable, which he felt satisfied about, and then felt bad about feeling satisfied about.

Eventually, Will cautiously began, "Hey, Nico, you know--"

"Will," said Nico, "it's okay. Really."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Will seemed to accept that. As they walked, Nico felt a tight knot of tension in his chest start to untangle itself.

\--

Having nightmares was embarrassing enough. Waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares was worse.

Nico woke up panting and sweating, sheets tangled around his limbs and one leg dangling off the edge of the bed. For a moment, the eerie lighting of the cabin made him think he was still dreaming.

Somewhere else, there was the noise of someone throwing back their blankets and scrambling to get up. "Nico? Everything okay?"

He didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. The room was cold--unusually cold--or was it always like that? Had it ever bothered him before? He pulled the sheets closer around him and shivered.

Footsteps approached the bed. Blond hair. "Jason?"

"No, buddy, just me," said Will, which was obvious now. No one else Nico knew would wear honest-to-gods heart-print boxers. "You need anything?"

"N-No," Nico stammered. His face felt hot with embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't...I'm fine."

Will nodded and began walking back towards his own bed.

Nico's throat felt tight.

"Wait," he whispered.

Impossibly, it got Will's attention, who stopped and turned. Nico froze up--he hadn't planned for this. He didn't expect to be heard.

Distantly, he heard himself say, "Stay with me?"

That was new, too.

Just a chance, he told himself.


End file.
